


Movie Night

by HelloJello



Category: The Last of Us (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Cheesy, Corny, Dinosaurs, Ellie & Joel (The Last of Us) Bonding, Ellie (The Last of Us) Needs a Hug, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Guilt, Jurassic Park - Freeform, Kinda, Movie Nights, No abby, Sappy, Serious Talks, Sorrow, Survivor Guilt, after tlou2 we need something a little cheesy, but yknow what?, canon compliant up to a point, ellie always needs a hug, joel regrets nothing, no seraphites, no wlfs, or trips to seattle, other words that mean cheesy, she still feels bad, so yeah it's really not canon compliant, they talk shit out, whatever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:20:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25970476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HelloJello/pseuds/HelloJello
Summary: After two years, and one wild night full of a range of emotions, Ellie finally goes to Joel to try to forgive him and reconcile with him. The next day, they both have patrol and while she's out she decides to invite him to watch a movie with her, thinking that something simple like that is a good place to start. Abby and the WLFs do NOT intervene during the blizzard, and Ellie and Joel have their movie night. Sure, it's harder than Ellie thought it would be to fix things between them, but it is a start. And really that's all either of them can ask for.
Relationships: Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us), Ellie & Joel (The Last of Us)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 66





	Movie Night

**Author's Note:**

> *Sighs* I just really wanted Ellie and Joel to have that movie night, y'know? It would've been so important for them, and that game just left me with too many emotions so here we are. Anyways I hope y'all enjoy.

Ellie raised a gloved fist and knocked softly against the hard wooden door. A voice from inside called out, “It’s open,” letting her know it was okay to enter. She took a deep breath before turning the handle, her heart pounding as she stepped over the threshold. Joel glanced over at her, his eyes widening slightly as he took her in, confusion barely masking the gleam of hope in his expression. 

“What are you doing here, kiddo?” he asked, setting down the guitar he’d been cleaning. “Is everything alright?” 

“Yeah,” Ellie assured him, her gaze flickering between the guitar and the floor in between brief glances at Joel. “Everything is fine.” 

“Okay,” Joel replied. He shuffled his left foot against the carpet, a sure sign of his anxiety. “Do you want some coffee or, uh, something?”

Ellie shook her head, having never been a fan of the stuff. She knew Joel liked it, enough to have traded more than it was likely worth. She noted the empty space by the hall closet that used to store Joel’s flamethrower. She felt certain there were other various items now missing around Joel’s house, replaced by a bag of ground beans. “I’ll pass.” 

Joel shrugged. “Suit yourself. It’s pretty good, all things considered.” 

Ellie managed another quick smile and the two fell into an uneasy silence, heavy with all the things they’d left unspoken between them the night before, when they had decided to give their relationship another try. She forced a shaky breath. Somehow, she hadn’t quite imagined it would hurt this much, trying to patch things up with Joel. She missed how easy things used to be. She missed how carefree their relationship had been. She wanted that back so badly, but she couldn’t stop that panicky feeling, the one that told her she was living at the expense of everyone around her, the one that said she should be dead, that she should have died so that everyone else could truly live. She blinked back tears and cleared her throat. “I thought we could watch a movie,” she said. “If you’re up for it.” 

“Okay,” Joel agreed, looking slightly taken aback. “Yeah, I’d like that.” 

“Cool,” Ellie said. “Do you still have the next kid ninja one?  _ Curtis and Viper 2 _ ?” 

“Damn, y’know what, I actually just lent that one to Tommy,” Joel said. “Hold on though. I think I have another one you might be interested in.” 

Ellie watched as Joel walked over to his movie cabinet. He rummaged around for a bit before uttering a soft, “There we are,” and coming back over to where Ellie stood. He offered it to her, and Ellie lit up as she took in the dinosaur plastered across the cover. 

“ _ Jurassic Park _ ,” she read with a grin. “Yeah, this one sounds good.” 

“Go settle in,” Joel instructed. “I’ll queue it up. You want any snacks or something?” 

Ellie shrugged as she made her way over to the couch. “Maybe a little later.” 

“Okay, you just let me know,” Joel said as he fiddled with the DVD player. “All this time in Jackson, you’re still stick-thin. Are you sure you’re eating enough?” 

“I’m eating plenty, Joel,” Ellie promised, her voice firm. “I just don’t want anything right now.” 

Joel put his hands up in surrender. “Alright. If you say so.” 

“Well I do, so...there.” 

Joel smiled to himself as he slid the disc into the player and shuffled over to the couch next to Ellie. From the moment the first dinosaur appeared onscreen-- with a flash of scales between bars and then a cold, reptilian eye-- Ellie was enthralled. Her unease slipped away as she got lost in a story about a handful of people who run around a park filled with dinosaurs. She smiled at the part where the dilophosaurus spit venom and ate that two-timing hacker dude in the Jeep. She chuckled a bit when the brachiosaurus sneezed on the little girl. During one of the scenes when the tyrannosaurus rex straightened up and let loose a triumphant roar she couldn’t help but think about the statue of the one she’d climbed when Joel took her to that museum on her sixteenth birthday. Her heart warmed as she thought about that day. It still blows her mind that the exhibit lasted so long, that it was there for her to see and experience. It had been a gift that had kept on giving. Behind every door they’d jimmied open had laid another special surprise. 

_ Even ones not so good,  _ she thought, suddenly remembering the messages scrawled on the wall by the ex-Firefly. It had been tense, wandering around in the dark by herself, reading those words of hate that had felt so much like words of warning. Her body had prepared itself for a fight as she’d made her way along, eventually finding her way back to Joel.  _ LIARS,  _ the last one had read, written above their heads, along with a sketch of the Fireflies’ symbol that had once been seen as a message of hope, now tainted by their scattered forces and empty promises. Ellie felt a tear slide down her cheek and she choked back a sob. She couldn’t help thinking that she and Joel were the real liars. The Fireflies would have accomplished everything they’d promised if it hadn’t been for Joel.  _ No,  _ Ellie thought.  _ Not because of him. Because of me. I did this. I killed the world. I’m  _ killing  _ the world.  _ _ Every second I breathe is just another second that everyone I love suffers. Henry and Sam, they died for nothing because of me. Tess died because of me. Riley... _

Ellie should have died. 

She was supposed to die, and be a cure. That was the significance of her life. That was her purpose. It was why she was immune. It had to be. She wasn’t supposed to have a life where she could kiss girls and play guitar. She was never going to get to see a movie in theatres or fly to the moon, but she could’ve been the one to save the world. She didn’t deserve all this. She was supposed to be dead. 

“Ellie?” 

She was suddenly very aware that she was crying, a steady stream of tears flowing down her face. She barely had time to process Joel’s voice before his arms were wrapped around her. She stiffened at his touch, debating whether she should push him away or not. She didn’t, and instead she melted into the embrace, burying her head into his chest. She was so tired of pushing him away. She didn’t agree with his actions-- in fact, she downright despised his decision-- but she was so tired of hating him for it. For the first time since learning the truth about St. Mary’s Hospital, Ellie and Joel hugged. Tears streamed down her face and soaked the front of his shirt, and Joel did his best to comfort her while she cried. 

“It’s alright,” he promised, running a soothing hand up and down her back, just like he used to do for Sarah on rougher days. “It’s okay baby girl, I’ve got you.” 

“You should have left me,” Ellie whimpered. She pulled away slightly, enough so that she could look Joel in the eyes. “Back in that hospital. You should have let them make a cure.” 

“I know,” Joel confessed, choking as the words passed his lips. “I couldn’t.” 

Ellie slumped, a defeated look crossing her face. She shifted out of Joel’s arms, out of reach, and settled herself on the opposite end of the couch. The two remained silent, neither one daring to say another word for the remaining length of the film. Finally, the banner fell as the tyrannosaurus rex roared in victory, and the surviving characters all hobbled into the helicopter. As the name Steven Spielberg suddenly flashed across the screen and the credits began to roll, Ellie knew the movie was over. She cleared her throat and got to her feet, preparing to leave. Just as she reached a hand for the door a gentle pressure appeared on her shoulder. She turned to look back at Joel, an anguished expression on his face. 

“I’m glad we were able to do this,” he said. Ellie nodded, still saying nothing. “And, uh, I just, well I just want us to be clear on something: your life, it means something to me. It means the whole damn world to me, Ellie. I know you said dying in that hospital is what would’ve made you something, but I couldn’t disagree more. Your life means something, cure or no cure. I just wish it meant something more to you.” 

Ellie sighed. She squeezed her eyes shut against another onslaught of tears, not knowing what to say. She wanted to forgive Joel-- she wanted to forgive him with all her heart. But she could never condone what he had done. She could never bring herself to believe that what he had done was just. She knew why he’d done it, of course she knew, but she would never be able to give Joel permission to feel like what he’d done was right. She just couldn’t let him think that he’d made the right call.

“I’m late to meet Dina,” Ellie finally mumbled, her voice hoarse. She opened the door and stepped outside into the falling snow, rapidly blinking back tears. She didn’t turn around, not even once, to look back at Joel as she hurried down the street to where she and Dina had planned to meet. She felt her heart crumple in her chest as love and hate went to war inside her. She was meant to die, but she hadn’t. She had a life, but she didn’t deserve it. How could she just move past this? How could Joel say that and expect her to believe it? She was supposed to be a cure for the whole human race, not just Joel’s replacement daughter. 

“It’s about time you showed up,” Dina called, forcing Ellie’s attention back to the present. “I was beginning to think I’d been stood up.” 

And it was there. It was seeing Dina’s smirk set below a pair of loving brown eyes. It was the memory of concern and care written on Joel’s entire being every time he looked at her. It was the caution from Tommy and the protection from Maria, the unrelenting jokes from Jesse. It was the love of the people she cared about that finally cracked the ice around Ellie’s heart, allowing one warm thought to enter. 

_ Maybe,  _ she smiled, approaching Dina,  _ just maybe, it might’ve been a just choice.  _

It was only one thought. It wasn’t a full one-eighty on how she’d been thinking. It wasn’t a rapid redefine of her beliefs. But it was a start. It was the first step on a long road to healing. It was the first moment that made Ellie believe-- if only for a moment-- that maybe everything would be okay. That maybe she did deserve to live. That maybe her life was worth living. 

“Hey Dina, what do you call a blind dinosaur?” 

**Author's Note:**

> (If you haven't seen Jurassic Park, a blind dinosaur is called a doyouthinkhesaurus.)


End file.
